Sunday, 7 December 2014

Vintage Villainy ; Angela Rigley and Keith Chapman

Before we return to our look at the life and work of Mark Hodder, I`d like to think laterally and bring to your attention two writers who`ve produced mysteries set in the nineteenth century.The first is Angela Rigley. Ms Rigley resides in Langley Mill on the Notts/Derbys border - not too far from Chateau Hoonaloon as it happens - and has a number of novels to her credit. She is best known for her historical fiction but has also produced novels aimed at young adults and has recently diversified into editing manuscripts for her publisher.An interview with Angela can be found athttp://bluewoodpublishing.com/Authors/Interviews/I-AngelaRigley.html

Whilst remaining in the world of historical fiction, Lea Croft is the first novel of hers to feature a murder and mystery motif. "An everyday tale of muder and life in a Victorian village" say her publishers and indeed the author does bring a healthy dollop of murder and intrigue into the fictional Derbyshire village that gives the book its` title.

Keith Chapman is an old friend of this blog. His writing career has included stints with the Sexton Blake Library and the Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine. After working for many years as an editor and journalist in recent times he has written a number of novels, mainly Black Horse Westerns (under the name Chap O` Keefe), though with occasional deviations into other genres, notably Witchery ; A Duo of Weird Tales.A two-part interview with Keith telling the fascinating story of his writing career was posted at http://tommcnulty.blogspot.comon 8 and 14 Nov 2014.In a recent e-mail , Keith commented on his fictitious Pinkertons` Detective Joshua Dillard, central character of The Lawman and the Songbird and others ; "You could say that after all these years I`m still trying to fly the flag for hardboiled mystery, albeit my detective Joshua Dillard, unlike Sexton Blake, operates only in the 19th century !"